When He Needed Me
by fallingauthor
Summary: "Hermione, please, I need you." he begged. "If you need me, I need someone too. And I'm sorry but it's not you!" and the door slammed on his face.
1. Default Chapter

**WHEN HE NEEDED ME**

**A/N**: another fic. I think this is going to be short. Well, it really depends on the reactions I get.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own HP and never will.

**Summary: "Hermione, please, I need you." he begged. "If you need me, I need someone too. And I'm sorry but it's not you!" and the door slammed on his face.**

**Default Chapter -**

"What did you say?"

She could not believe her ears. She immediately leaned away from his broad chest and looked up to him in surprise. She stared at him and seacrhed for any hint of fooling in his face, but he stared at her in an eerie seriousness. His grey eyes were full of passion and strong emotions as he locked it with her hazel ones. He raised his hand and used it to gently sweep strands of her brown, curly, not-so-messy-anymore hair at the back of her ear. He was surprised when she flicked his hand away and glared at him in a shocking intensity. His brows furrowed in confusion. What had he done? Surely, what he said was not anything offending, right? Not even close to an insult, or mockery.

"What, the fuck, did you say?!" she roared at him. He leaned away from her, startled and more confused. What was she so mad about? Her breathing quickened its pace, probably from her fury.

"Hermione," he started. "I said, I love you. Is there anything wrong with it?" he asked quietly.

She climbed down her bed angrily and looked at him, livid. "Are you fucking kidding me?" she shouted. "Nothing is right about it!"

He frowned, still confused. "Why? I'm not allowed to love you?"

"No, you are not!" she yelled in reply.

He gaped at her for several seconds. Then he spoke again, "Why not? You're not with Weasley anymore and it's been 3 months. And we've been like couples for almost 2 months now. Why can I not love you?"

"For fuck's sake, Malfoy. You think we've been acting like 'couples'?" she scoffed in total disbelief. "I told you since the first time it happened between us, that I am only attracted with your physical attributes! I kiss you because you taste good, I cuddle with you because you feel good and I sleep with you because you do good! What, in Merlin's fucking beard, were you thinking, falling in love with me?" she yelled at him furiously.

Malfoy frowned and looked down at the bed momentarily before bringing his gaze back to her. He swallowed and said, "Nothing changed in that 2 months? You still think my body is the only good thing about me? You don't...feel anything for me?" his voice fading each word. He looked at her expectantly but he was only rewarded with a cold scoff.

"Feel what, Malfoy? LOVE, as you claim it?" she spat the word in disgust. "That's bullshit."

"At first it was just lust for me too, Hermione. But as we continued doing it, I found myself struggling so hard to separate my feelings from sex." he admitted, looking at her longingly.

She rolled her eyes, "So much for being a god in bed." she muttered sarcastically.

He stood up from her bed and motioned to her. Before he could reach her, she inched away, as if his touch would make her sick. "Don't touch me. You're paranoid, Malfoy." she shook her head. "You know what? We should end this affair right now. You're going crazy."

"But, Herm-"

She stomped to her door and opened it harshly. She looked at him. "Get out. We're done." she said fixedly.

"Hermione..."

"Malfoy, OUT! You're delusional. Get out or I will hex you!" she threatened seriously.

He sighed and walked out of her room. He faced her, expecting her to invite him in again. "Never talk to me again. Never attempt to do anything with me. We're through."

"I love you..." he whispered, looking at her pleadingly. "Hermione, please, I need you." he begged.

God, he was mental, she thought. Just because she got intimate with him didn't mean she forgot Ron. Ron was still the one. Yes, they broke up, but Ron was starting to realize his mistake and was starting to get her back. And she would go back to him.

"If you need me, I need someone too. And I'm sorry but it's _not you_!" and the door slammed on his face.

God, was she wrong. She should have known. She never knew that 5 years later, she would be willing to give everything just to take her damned words back.

**A/N: not so much...**


	2. Miss No 79

**WHEN HE NEEDED ME**

**A/N: So this is what happened 5 years later. :D Hope you like it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

**Chapter One: Girl #79**

5 years later, 23 year-old Hermione Granger worked on one of the biggest companies in the Wizarding World: the 'Malfoy Racers Incorporated', which was ranked as no. 1 of the best producers of new, beautiful and fast racing broomsticks sought by almost every single witch and wizard of London. Even the International Quidditch stars daily ordered thier copies of The Daily Prophet and open it to the Classified Ads and Business Section to check for the newest broomstick the company offered in the market.

She worked their for almost 2 years already as the Representative of the Design Department. Their team was responsible on how the new broomsticks would look like. As the representative, Hermione would be the very person to show the lay-out to their boss, the President of the MR Inc., which happened to be the heir of the Chief Executive Officer, Lucius Malfoy.

Hermione, in her whole life, never thought that one day, she would be working under Draco Malfoy.

Draco Malfoy, her ex-lover back during her last year in Hogwarts.

Draco Malfoy, the boy who told her he 'loved' her.

Draco Malfoy, the person who begged for her.

Draco Malfoy, the one behind her door when she slammed it close 5 years ago.

Draco Malfoy was her boss.

At first, the thought was unnerving. Given their past, it was awkward around him. But he never seemed to mind her. He didn't act different to her. He summoned her for business purposes, he frowned at her for business purposes, he yelled at her for business purposes and he drove her away purely for business purposes.

It was almost like he didn't remember anything about their past -which was a good thing. So, she decided to just forget they had a past together -which never really meant anything- and acted as his normal employee.

She had to admit that Malfoy changed. He was still a prat -an attitude he needed to maintain as a boss- but he wasn't as annoying like before. He was strict but not even close to being terror. Actually, nobody in the company hated him. They understood him. They adored him. They worshiped the ground he walked on. They just undeniably loved him. He was better than his father so they were thankful he took over. He interacted with everyone in a business-like way most of the time, but surprisingly, he managed to be friendly with the other employees. He dismissed them early if he was in a good mood and he gave wage increase to everyone if their new product hit no. 1 in the market, which fortunately happened every time they had new racing brooms.

The MR Inc. prospered under his control and nobody would be able to deny that. He was a fair and intellligent leader and he was able to establish an understanding between him and his people.

Because of his success, he was known all over the Wizarding World, not just in Wizarding London. He was ranked no. 1 as the '**Highest Earner_'_** by the _'Wizarding Finances Statistics'_ since 2000, the year he took over the Presidency of their family business. He was also recognized as the **'Youngest Man who Conquered the Business Industry'** by the '_Sucessful Personalities_' magazine. The MR Inc. was also ranked no. 1 in the '**Biggest and Most Prosperous Business Establishments of the Wizarding Universe**'. Because of the popularity of his business, he was not only no. 1 in the Business Section. He rose up with the MR Inc., therefore, he became famous among the women too. His face usually came out in the _Witch Weekly Magazine_ as the **'Most Sought After Man of the 21st Generation**'. He also appeared in many other famous magazines like _'The Bachelor'_ which ranked him the (once again)** no. 1 Most Eligible Bachelor** and entitling him the '**The Most Famous Face who walked on Earth**' on account of all his achievements and earned titles for the past 4 years.

He was truly amazing. Hermione never thought he was going to rule the Business Industry and probably the Women's world too. Except her's. She was with Ron. They had been together for 5 years now. After that night, when Hermione dumped Malfoy, she went back to Ron and they had been together since then.

Ever since that fateful night too, she never had a conversation with Draco Malfoy. Yes, they exchanged greetings, nodded at each other in acknowledgement and talk to discuss about broomsticks, but never were they able to talk like people who used to know each other. She was not one of the few people in the Company who were close to their boss and would sometimes exchange jokes and some other things with him.

He was distant to her and sometimes Hermione would think about that at night. Malfoy acted like they never actually associated with one another back during their times at school. As if she was a complete stranger he just knew as one of his employees.

"Hermione, dear. Are you busy?"

Hermione looked up from the papers she was reading to the Head of their Department, Sally. She smiled at the older woman and shook her head, "No, Sally. I'm just re-reading stuffs..." she waved the papers for emphasis.

"Good," Sally smiled and handed her a rolled parchment. "Please show this to Mr. Malfoy."

Hermione looked at the parchment and then to Sally, "Is that the final blueprint of the new racing broom?"

The older woman nodded, "Yes, if and only if, the President's going to agree to the design. You know how he is about the looks of his broom. It must be splendid in his eyes, if not, then that's not going to be the final blueprint."

Hermione took the blueprint and stood up, "Okay, I'll show him this." she walked away and made her way to the office of the President.

*** inside ***

"My _Silver Dragon 10.1_ won't look like this!" Malfoy roared, slamming the blasted blueprint of an awful-looking broomstick on his desk. He glared at Hermione. "What on Earth were you thinking putting a damned beak on the tip of the handle? This broomstick is a bloody Dragon not a fucking _Hippogriff_!"

Hermione raised her head to meet his glaring boss' eyes and apologized. "I'm sorry, Sir. That thing on the tip is actually supposed to be the nose of the Dragon." Hermione explained.

"Who the fuck would believe that? Look at this and tell me if it looks like a Dragon nose!" Draco shoved the blueprint to her. Hermione took it and looked at the drawing. Her jaw dropped.

"So? Tell me, does it look like a nose?" Draco spluttered. "If it is, then it's poorly drawn."

Hermione slowly shook her head and bit her lower lip, "It looks like...a Hippogriff beak."

"Take that piece of crap you call a blueprint back to the infernal hell where it came from and give me something decent when you come back here." with that, Draco went back to the papers he was working on and ignored her presence. Just like that. That was how they interact. He acknowledged her if she showed him blueprints and then after that, kaboom, she was invisible once again. She was nonexistent and maybe even if she do cartwheels in front of him, he wouldn't notice.

She slowly walked away, bringing the rejected piece of crap, and went out of his office.

She sighed and made her way back to Sally. She was waiting for her in Hermione's desk, flipping over the pages of The Daily Prophet.

"Denied." she announced when she reached her. "The nose looked like a Hippogriff beak. He hates Hippogriff."

Sally exhaled sharply, putting the newspaper down. "I'm expecting that." she admitted. "I'm just going to ask the team to redo the design of the Silver Dragon 10.1. When is he expecting the new blueprint?"

Hermione shrugged, "He didn't say. But I'm guessing from his tone, he wants it immediately."

Sally nodded and folded the newspaper. Suddenly, they heard clanks of heels and looked at the girl who just entered the office. She was a petite woman with long, blond hair and equally long limbs. She was wearing a brown tube that was dangerously loose, exposing the upper part of her chest and stopped just above her navel. She wore a dark blue skinny jeans and a 6-inches brown high heels. She was wearing a heavy make-up; her lips were tomato red and her eyes were heavy with blue and brown eye shadows, a combination which usually looked bad together but apparently went nice with her face. Big, round earrings were dangling in her ears and she was holding a fancy designer bag. She was a woman they all recognized as Penelope Scamander, a super model that currently set her big, blue eyes, on their Casanova boss.

Everyone in the office looked at her, gaping. She looked absolutely stunning.

"Is Draco here?" she asked, looking at the employees expectantly.

"Yes, he's in his office." someone answered.

She nodded and stalked away to Draco's office without another word.

All heads followed her movement and only looked away when she disappeared inside Draco's office.

"The new woman in our boss' life." Fia, Hermione's friend, inquired.

"I can see that..." Dylan, a tall, lean man with dark hair, replied, standing from his desk and walking over to Fia's cubicle which was right next to Hermione's.

"That one's hot!" Ceasar, a short, healthy man exclaimed, pushing his chair to them, joining in.

"Every girl he dated was hot..." Fia said, matter-of-factly.

"Well..." Ceasar shrugged.

"You know what another woman means..." Dylan beamed naughtily. He fished inside his pocket and took out a handful of galleons and slammed it on Fia's table. "20 galleons says she'll last for a week." he grinned wickedly.

Ceasar tsked at him and reached inside his pocket too. "20 galleons says she'll last for 4 days. I'm sure she'll be like the last girl, Anna. She was hot, too, but still, our handsome boss dumped her."

"The last girl was not Anna. Her name was_ Eliza._ Anna was before Eliza." Fia corrected him.

"Yeah, whatever. Who cares? Of all the girls who entered this office asking for him, it's a miracle we even remembered some of their names." Ceasar waved his hand lazily. "So how much do you bet?"

Fia snatched her bag and took out another handful of galleons. "22 galleons says she'll last for 2 days."

"2 days? Don't you have faith in her? Maybe 3 days was more acceptable." Dylan said.

Fia rolled her eyes at him and turned her gaze towards Hermione and Sally who were watching them silently.

"Wanna bet?" she hopefully invited them.

To Hermione's surprise, Sally stood from the edge of her table and reached inside her jacket for galleons. "I only have 16 galleons in my pocket. And it says 1 month."

"1 month? Maybe you're giving her _too much_ faith." Dylan looked at her in disbelief.

Sally shrugged, "Who knows, she might even last longer than a month."

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me. No girl will last for more than a month in the arms of the 'Most Eligible Bachelor' of London. You know he changed woman more than he changed his pants." Fia pointed out.

"Yes, I know." Sally nodded. "I don't need to be reminded. I was already here when he took the position as the President and I've watched him change girls since then. The number of his women was more than the number of the months in those 4 years of being a playboy. Did you know, that Penelope Scamander girl, is his number 79?"

Fia, Dylan, Ceasar and Hermione's jaws dropped hundred meters below, and their eyes were as wide as saucer.

"79?!" Ceasar and Dylan chorused in shock.

"Bloody hell!" Fia shouted.

"79..." Ceasar started counting frantically in his fingers and toes. "Nineteen...twenty...twenty-one -Holy shit, that's_ a lot_!"

Sally nodded sympathetically. "I know, I know... But that's not likely going to end in 79. But I'm still hoping..."

Hermione's hand flew to cover her mouth. She could not believe it. All those girls he had been with...they were 79 in all? If she included herself since she was once his bed-mate, it would be 80. But then, who was she joking, she was not the only girl he had in Hogwarts. 'Fuck...just how many girls had been in his life?' she exclaimed in her head. There were 79 after her, when he became the President of MR Inc., then a couple other woman had been with him the year he graduated in Hogwarts and then a couple more after she dumped him, but god, who knew how many girls had been caught in his charms were way before her!

After a moment of silence, Sally cleared her throat. "So, I think I'm going to go now. I still have to work on the Silver Dragon 10.1. If I don't present him another blueprint sooner or later, he will be fired up and I will be fucked out. And you all know what extreme horror it is to be on the receiving end of his wrath." Sally waved them goodbye and made her way to the Designing Room.

"He really is a Casanova..." Fia breathed out.

Ceasar and Dylan nodded. Then Fia turned her attention to a still speechless Hermione. "So, aren't you going to place your bet on how long Penelope will last?"

Hermione shook her head and smiled apologetically, "I'm sorry...I have to decline that offer, once again."

They nodded and went back to their own businesses. Hermione was quiet in her table, thinking.

Draco had told her he developed feelings for her during the 2 months they were together. She had been clear to him from the beginning that she was not serious with him. He accepted it and told her he wasn't interested in her romantically too. So, she was livid when he told her the L word and drove him away. Since then, he never went anywhere near her again or made another attempt to take her back.

If there had been more than 79 girls after her and many uncounted girls before her, was he really serious when he told her he loved her?

Or had it been a_ lie_, after all?

She was not sure why she should care about it. It happened 5 years ago. But she couldn't help but feel disappointed thinking that what he said years ago were just flowery words that didn't mean anything. She knew she rejected to acknowledge his feelings before -if there really was any- but she couldn't deny that she felt so beautiful that time. Draco, ever since his teenage years, had been quite the center of attraction to many girls. When Ron dumped her the first time, she felt so low and unwanted. But when Draco took her, she temporarily forgot her heartbreak and enjoyed the attention he was showering her.

And during that night when he confessed his feelings, she felt extra special. But she had to reject him because Ron wanted her back and she was sure she was still willing to be with him. She needed Ron back then, so she left Malfoy.

If Malfoy truly loved her, he would be brokenhearted and would possibly try to steal her from Ron. But he never did that. And he seemed to move on quite easily because after a week, he was seen flirting with another witch.

Maybe, he was not serious back then.

Maybe he just wanted to play a little.

It was a good thing Hermione didn't accept him.

He was a Casanova and he would always be one.

Draco Malfoy didn't know how to love.

No, he didn't know what love was.

Luckily, Hermione didn't trust him. If she had, she would just end up crying and hurt and would definitely not be over him maybe even after 5 years.

Her decision was right.

It was, wasn't it?

**A/N: ... so?**


End file.
